Samsung Galaxy S4 Shipments Cross 10 Million

Samsung co-CEO Shin Jong-kyu told media last week that he expected the Galaxy S4 to pass 10 million channel sales this week, and that has proven to be true as the electronics giant announced the milestone today. That feat makes it the company’s fastest selling phone ever.

The Galaxy S4 was released at the end of April thus, by hitting 10 million sales already, it has reached the milestone 20 times faster than its predecessor — the Galaxy S3 — which took two months.

Samsung’s Galaxy range actually passed 100 million sales to date (again, this is channel sales, so sales to retailers and operators rather than consumers) in January this year. That news coincided, rather nicely, with the Galaxy S3 clocking up 40 million channel sales within 7 months of its launch.

Yet, despite the impressive figures, Apple’s iPhone is in a league of its own when it comes to sales records. Consumer (not channel) sales of the iPhone 5 topped five million during the first weekend following its release, while the same device logged two million sales in China the weekend after its launch.

At this point it isn’t clear what new devices the Galaxy S4 will come up against. Apple is rumored to be planning to launch a new version of the iPhone later this year, which would become its main contender. Going on today’s announcement, competition from the likes of the well-regard HTC One has not cut into demand for Samsung’s flagship device.

The Galaxy S4 has a premium 5-inch 1080p display, set at an impressive 441 ppi. Under the hood is a quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A15 processor, bumped up by an additional quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 chipset. The phone has enjoyed a monumental marketing campaign both before and after its launch, starting with a number of teaser videos that included Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd during the Superbowl, as well as this little chap leading up to the launch event in New York.

The Broadway-style unveiling in the Big Apple drew some criticism from the press, but it was without doubt one of Samsung’s grandest and most high-profile media events. Billboard and television advertisements have since swamped a number of major cities, giving the Galaxy S4 the best possible chance at retail.